There's planes in Alaska, too!

Alaska offers one of the largest variety of aircraf to be seen if you're into that kind of thing) than most anywhere else in the world. Today on a very short outing around the international airport of Anchorage and neighboring floatplane base Lake Hood I saw everything from Super Cubs on skis and floats to MD-11s and 747s dedicated to ferrying cargo around the world and nearly everything in between. The air is crisp and cold here, snow is just starting to cover the ground and I am in my element. Here's one small sample of what can be seen here, a FedEx MD-11 rotating and sowing off all kinds of heat artifacts and "ribbons" owing to the weather conditions. I expect more to come, stay tuned!

13-pigeon escort

FedEx MD-11 after a tricky landing in 30+ knot crosswinds getting the 13-pigeon escort as it taxis off the active at RAF Mildenhall. C-17s were diverted to Ramstein (and Norwich due to fuel concerns) as their landing envelopes were severely"violated" by the gusts.

Quick Shots

Caught a few nice examples of the diverse aircraft action appearing at Mildenhall lately:


FedEx MD-11 arriving, best stretch of weather for the afternoon as this one came in.


Good old Tennessee ANG Herc departing, nice propwash if you squint through the bright sky.

A nice lineup of heavies: Kalitta Air 747-100, FecEx MD-11 anf a USAF C-5A Galaxy.

Getting a little long in the tooth is a Kalitta Air 747-100 cargo hauler. Callsign "Connie" after the owner Connie Kalitta (yes, the drag racer guy). Fantastic to see this one at the 'Hall, I imagine there's a few hours on this airframe.